Nearly 23% experience at least one episode of physical, sexual violence

Nearly 23 per cent of people aged between 18 and 74 have experienced at least one episode of physical or sexual violence, the National Statistics Office said Thursday.

The Survey on Safety and WellBeing was implemented nationally based on the EU-Gender-Based Violence Survey (EU-GBV), which was a Eurostat-funded research initiative conducted by EU Member States to assess the prevalence and characteristics of gender-based violence (GBV) across the European Union (EU).

The survey aims to provide comparable data on various forms of violence.

The NSO said that 22.9 per cent of persons aged 18 to 74 experienced at least one episode of physical or sexual violence during their lifetime – 21.6 per cent of males and 24.4 per cent of females.

One in every five persons aged 18 to 74 (20.7 per cent) experienced at least one episode of physical violence - with an equal percentage of males and females (20.7 per cent) indicating such experiences.

Just over one in every ten females (11.1 per cent) aged 18 to 74 experienced at least one episode of sexual violence, compared to 2.5 per cent of males.

Sexual harassment at work

Among those who ever worked, 27.1 per cent of females and 11.0 per cent of males have experienced sexual harassment at work.

Amidst different forms of sexual harassment at work, 12.2 per cent of persons who have ever worked experienced staring or leering, while 10.2 per cent experienced indecent sexual jokes or remarks.

Of those who have ever had an intimate partner relationship, 22.5 per cent experienced violence from at least one intimate partner.

Over a quarter of females (26.0 per cent) who have ever had an intimate partner experienced intimate partner violence, compared with just under one in every five males (19.1 per cent).

Among those who have ever had an intimate partner, 10.4 per cent experienced at least one episode of physical or sexual violence, while 21.3 per cent experienced at least one episode of psychological violence.

Non-partner violence

From the age of 15 onwards, 17.0 per cent of persons experienced at least one episode of physical or sexual violence by a non-partner.

18.6 per cent of all males experienced at least one episode of nonpartner violence compared with 15.1 per cent of all females.

Physical violence from a nonpartner was mostly experienced by males (17.8 per cent), whereas females mainly experienced sexual violence by a non-partner (7.3 per cent).

When looking at perpetrators of non-partner violence, 15.2 per cent of all persons reported at least one episode involving a male perpetrator, while 3.1 per cent of all persons experienced at least one episode involving a female perpetrator.

Stalking

One in every five persons (20.4 per cent) aged 18 to 74 experienced stalking - 25.2 per cent of females and 16.1 per cent of males.

3.3 per cent of persons had at least one stalking experience before the age of 15.

Stalking by a male perpetrator in at least one case was reported by 14.6 per cent of all persons, compared to 3.6 per cent who experienced stalking by a female perpetrator in at least one case.

Over three-quarters (76.3 per cent) of those who experienced stalking did not report their latest experience to the Police.

Different experiences during childhood

Over one in every four persons (27.7 per cent) experienced either physical or emotional abuse by a parental figure before the age of 15 years.

More people experienced either physical or emotional abuse by a father figure, at 23.1 per cent, compared to 17.9 per cent of persons who experienced physical or emotional abuse by a mother figure.

One in every five persons (20.2 per cent) witnessed physical or emotional abuse between their parental figures before the age of 15 years.

Sexual abuse before the age of 15 years was experienced by 3.4 per cent of persons.

Knowledge of services and perception of intimate partner violence

Nearly three quarters of persons (73.6 per cent) aged 18 to 74 knew of the national helpline 179, while just over half (53.1 per cent) were aware of other non-residential support services.

There was a general high awareness about shelters, with 79.1 per cent of persons aged 18 to 74 who were aware of shelters specifically for persons experiencing domestic violence, while 91.8 per cent were aware of shelters for persons experiencing different types of social issues.

Four out of every five persons (80.1 per cent) believe that intimate partner violence against females is either very or fairly common, with 16.0 per cent believing that such violence is not very common.

Two out of every five persons (42.9 per cent) believe that intimate partner violence against males is either very or fairly common, with 47.4 per cent believing that it is not very common.